Haverford College is a small liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. All students live on campus for all four years. The acceptance rate was 17.8% for the class of 2025. As you’ll be able to see in the below (long!) prompt, the Honor Code is quintessential to the school’s ethos. They take it pretty seriously. Classes are small and largely seminar-based. The nice thing about supplements is they give the applicant a chance to get a sense of the school’s vibe. They’re telling you what’s important to them in their incoming classes below. Make sure you read everything carefully before diving in:
A Haverford education is distinguished by the extraordinary trust placed in students, the emphasis on student agency in all facets of the academic and community experience, and the cultivation of ethical leadership. All of this is embodied in our student-run Honor Code. The Haverford Honor Code is not a set of rules, but rather a statement of shared values centered on the concepts of trust, concern, and respect. It serves as an educational tool in and of itself and provides a powerful framework for our community, emphasizing and supporting qualities we see as essential to a Haverford education. Among other things, the Honor Code at Haverford shapes:
•Academic Freedom: The Honor Code fosters an atmosphere emphasizing academic integrity, collaboration over competition, and the cultivation of intellectual curiosity. Differences and disagreement are respected, valued, and embraced, and open discourse is seen as fundamental to the academic endeavor.
•Student Agency: The Honor Code upholds a culture in which students are deeply trusted to take substantial ownership of their education and to profoundly shape and define the Haverford community. Student ownership is reflected in self-scheduled exams, in the fact that every student completes a Senior Thesis, in shared responsibility for the residential experience, and of course in oversight of the Honor Code itself.
•Community: The Honor Code establishes a supportive environment for living and learning, where the community experience plays a central role in one’s education. The inherent value of every community member is recognized, and diversity in all respects - including diversity of background, experience, and perspective - is nurtured, celebrated, and embraced.
•Leadership and Engagement: The Honor Code allows every student to find and develop their own voice, to practice ways of improving community and acting on issues of importance, to learn methods of problem solving and conflict resolution, and to examine the ways they can and will impact the world beyond Haverford.
Please give us a better sense of what you are looking for in your college experience by answering the following questions:
1. Tell us about a topic or issue that sparks your curiosity and gets you intellectually excited. How do you think the environment at Haverford, including the framework of the Honor Code, would foster your continued intellectual growth? Please limit your response to 250 words. *
This question and the below can be combined to read “why Haverford?” This is a common question among school supplements. We always tell our students to develop an academic area of expertise throughout high school. If there’s anything theme you should invoke when writing this supplement, it’s specificity, beginning with your academic area of interest. Hopefully, you’ve developed a niche along the road. Not just in Science, but Astronomy, for example.
Start off telling the origin story of your niche. This should be simple. Maybe you had to map several constellations for science class in 7th grade and you fell asleep in your yard because you stayed up so late looking into the details. Now, connect that to the major or program Haverford offers that most closely aligns with your niche. Talk about the upper-level classes you want to take and possibly a professor and their research. You also need to tie in the Honor Code. Pay particular attention to the Student Agency section and the opportunities therein. Be very specific. Haverford obviously prides itself on offering academic freedom. Discuss how you’ve taken initiative in your academic area (something that’s not already on your resume or your transcript, like a project or report) and how you look forward to expanding upon that interest (i.e.: taking ownership). The objective here is to connect yourself and Haverford by way of a very (you guessed it) specific academic area, specifically as it relates to the Honor Code. In other words, show them that the two of you are a perfect match.
2. Please tell us what motivated you to apply to Haverford and what excites you most as you imagine your Haverford experience. Please limit your response to 150 words. *
Your response here should focus on the Community and Leadership and Engagement sections of the Honor Code. Remember, be very specific and do some really good research. Begin by identifying extracurriculars and activities that closely align with your area of expertise. Then, talk about other aspects of the community, the location, and the culture that are interesting to you. Link at least part of your answer to your academic niche, but also feel free to demonstrate other parts of your personality or additional interests for which Haverford would be a natural match. If you have a unique (read: weird) hobby or interest that relates to something at Haverford, talk about it. Don’t just be a generalist and say you appreciate Haverford’s commitment to diversity. Talk, in detail, about what appeals to you and why.
We love when our students apply to Haverford. It is a fun and dynamic school with a supplement that matches. With a less than 20% acceptance rate, you’re going to have to do your best to make your way into the “accepted” pile.
Need some help writing the Haverford supplement? Call us. We’re experts at helping students match with their dream school.